Jacques Villeneuve has had a stab at two of Formula 1’s most successful drivers – Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher – claiming the pair only have a combined 12 titles (soon to be 13) because they always had the best cars at their disposal.
In an interview with Motorsport-Total, the 1997 F1 World Champion was asked to compare Schumacher and Hamilton among the pantheon of greats.
Villeneuve replied, “These drivers only won when they had the best car. They’ve always had the best car throughout their careers, so if you put Lewis in a Williams, he will not win. He’s super good and always makes the right decision as to which team to go to.
“Once there, he builds a team around him, that’s all. He might not have won in a Ferrari,” reckoned Villeneuve of world champion and Mercedes driver Hamilton who has only driven for McLaren and his current team since his debut in 2007.
Villeneuve also scoffs at the idea of anointing an F1 driver with the accolade of the Greatest-Of-All-Time, “This is the stupidest comparison. You could also say a driver is on [Juan Manuel] Fangio’s level, but how do you compare that?
“It was a very different time, who knows? And also with Senna: He won in the best car. [Alain] Prost too, that’s just how it works in Formula 1,” added the Canadian whose own title was won in the Williams Fw19, penned by Adrian Newey, which is considered to be one of the finest cars to come out of Grove.